The European Commission has come up with a neutral statement regarding the recent assault against Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Macedonia Ivan Petkov.

The issue has to be resolved at a bilateral level, according to Peter Stano, spokesman of EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele.

“If the case is criminal, we expect local authorities to investigate it, adhering to the rule of law,” Stano has stated, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency.

The European Commission expects Bulgaria and Macedonia to settle their relations “like European neighbors,” the spokesman has declared.

Brussels believes that if an issue exists between the two countries, they have to resolve it at a bilateral level.

On May 4, Petkov and a Bulgarian delegation were not admitted to Bulgarian revolutionary Gotse Delchev‘s grave in Skopje and were attacked by a group of nationalist Macedonian “hooligans,” with no one being hurt.

The attack was strongly condemned by Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Presidednt Rosen Plevneliev, among others.

The authorities in Macedonia‘s capital Skopje have prevented Bulgarian diplomats and Macedonians with Bulgarian self-consciousness from honoring the grave of Gotse Delchev at several instances in the past on both Delchev’s birthday – February 4, and the day of his death – May 4.

www.novinite.com

The vanishing of sentenced Bulgarian businessmen known as Galevi Brothers will have a negative effect on the EU‘s July monitoring report on Bulgaria, according to Bulgarian Minister of Interior Tsvetan Tsvetanov.

“Of course, there is no way that this event can be positively taken. The European Commission has repeatedly insisted that it wants to see criminals punished,” explained Tsvetanov.

Controversial Dupnitsa businessmen Plamen Galev and Angel Hristov were convicted to 3 and 4 years in jail for organized crime activities.

But May 3 it turned out that they are nowhere to be found, after they failed to present themselves to serve their sentences.

Saturday Tsvetanov did not fail to use his usual rhetoric device by blaming Bulgaria’sjudiciary for the disappearance of the so-called brothers.

“It is the court that could have prevented this to happen by imposing detention on the defendants, rather than a bail,” said the Bulgarian Minister of Interior.

The Galevi Brothers were on BGN 100,000 bail, which they chose to forfeit rather than render themselves after being sentenced.

www.novinite.com

EU leaders will assemble on an emergency European Council May 23 to discuss measures to stimulate economic growth in the Union.

This was revealed Tuesday byEuropean Council PresidentHerman Van Rompuy on his Twitter account.

The announcement comes in the wake of a special statement byEuropean Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso calling for stepping up measures to create growth in the EU.

In his address, Barroso recalled prior stimulus measures proposed by the Commission which he said he would like to see implemented.

The EC President further stressed he hopes for swift developments that could make the effects of the measures be felt before the end of the year.

Some have connected the move with Sunday’s election of socialist Francois Hollande, an adversary to excessive austerity, to be France’s next President.

European Commissioner for Financial Affairs Olli Rehn had already issued a statement suggesting that Europe should move away from preoccupation with austerity and concentrate on promoting growth to tackle the crisis.

The May 23 European Council is set to be a difficult one, as the leaders of EUJuggernaut Germany – Chancellor Angela Merkel and her FinMin Wolfgang Schaeuble - are staunch defenders of financial stringency and austerity.

The European Union‘s executive will suspend in the short term the excessivebudget deficit procedure against Bulgaria as the country has taken adequate steps to correct it, a deputy finance minister believes.

Bulgaria‘s budget deficit dipped below the European Union limit of 3% of gross domestic product last year because of the government’s prudent fiscal management, Deputy Finance Minister Boryana Pencheva told MPs from the European affairs parliamentary committee.

“Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency, already confirmed that Bulgaria‘s budgetdeficit was a notch above 2% of GDP in 2011,” she added.

According to the deputy minister the European Commission usually suspends the proceedings for excessive budget deficit once the country meets the EU target and shows stable fiscal indices.

“The good news is that Bulgaria has one of the lowest budget deficit in EU and the second-lowest debt in the EU – at the end of 2011, the lowest ratios of government debt to GDP were recorded in Estonia 6.0% and Bulgaria 16.3%,” said Pencheva.

The European Commission launched in July 2010 an excessive budget deficitprocedure against Bulgaria and 24 other EU member-states to ensure that the countries reduce swiftly their state spending, and keep their budget deficit below 3% of the GDP.

The measure came shortly after Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Finance Minister Simeon Djankov said the previous Socialist-led government had kept them in the dark over BGN 2.16 B contracts, which pushed the 2009 deficit up from a projected 1.9% to 3.7% of GDP

In the first of its twice-yearly reviews of government finances in the 27-member bloc, Eurostat said the Bulgarian government’s budget deficit was 3.9% of gross domestic product in 2010.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of the country’s former Socialist-led administration, saying the government has lied to the EU colleagues about the country’s readiness for the euro zone, being unaware of this trap.

The EU’s stability and growth pact requires governments to maintain public deficits below 3% of gross domestic product.

Bulgaria‘s government and the European Commission recently revised downwards their forecast for the economy of the Balkan country, estimating it is to grow 1.4% in 2012 due to worsening growth prospects in key trading partners across Europe and stagnant domestic demand.

Experts however have warned of looming recession. They have criticized the government for refusing to present updated forecasts for the economy’s growth this year and adapt the state budget to a more realistic scenario, not ruling out technical recession.

The European Commission has approved a state aid scheme for the participation of Bulgarian Shepherd Dogs in international cynology exhibitions in 2012, according to an announcement of the Bulgarian Agriculture Ministry.

The money will be transferred to the Bulgarian Cynology Club.

The assistance will be available to registered agricultural producers breeding purebred dogs under the supervision of the Bulgarian Cynology Club.

The scheme envisages funding for up to 69% of the costs for the participation in three dog shows – in Ukraine’s Odessa, Spain’s Lorca and Germany’s Berlin.

The EC will also grant 100% of the funding of the printing of a catalogue titled “History, Present and Future of the Bulgarian Shepherd Dog“.

The participation in dog shows is aimed at popularizing the achievements and the potential of the Bulgarian Shepherd Dog.

On November 13, 2010, then- Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin was given a Bulgarian Shepherd Dog puppy as a gift during his one-day visit in Sofia.

On April 29, 2012  Russian Patriarch Kiril was also given a Bulgarian Shepherd Dog puppy during his three-day visit to Bulgaria.

www.novinite.com

The European Commission has insisted for the third time in two months that Bulgaria’s top judicial body, the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) be elected directly, a report says.

According to a report of the Capital Daily, EC Secretary-General Catherine Day has sent letter to the Bulgarian authorities, as represented by Justice Minister Diana Kovacheva, that they need to introduce a direct election of the VSS members by the end of 2012 for those members of the Council that are elected by the judiciary, i.e. the so called magistrate quota.

Day is in charge of the EC reports monitoring the post-accession progress of Bulgaria and Romania in the field of judiciary reform, and combating organized crime and corruption under the so called Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, publishing progress reports twice a year since 2007.

According to the letter of the EC Secretary-General sent to Sofia on April 24, 2012, the introduction of the direct election of the members of the Bulgarian Supreme Judicial Council, a body that has often been criticized for spurring scandals or failing to crack down on scandalous issues, by all members of the judiciary will be crucial for a more tangible judicial reform.

Catherine Day insists that the direct election of the VSS members must be employed in time for the formation of the new Council in the fall of 2012.

The Capital Daily notes that during the latest debate on the Bulgarian Judiciary Act Justice Minister Kovacheva rejected the direct election of the country’s top magistrates “without being able to privde a specific reason” for that, mentioning primarily technical difficulties.

At present, the Bulgarian Supreme Judicial Council is elected by delegates representing the judges and prosecutors working in the judicial system. The latest changes to the legislation are said to provide for greater representation, with each voting delegate representing five judges or prosecutors instead of ten, as was the case earlier.

The latest amendments also introduce a more thorough procedure for the election of those VSS members that come from the so called parliamentary quota, and are elected by the Parliament.

In the fall of 2012, the Bulgarian Parliament is to elect 11 members of the VSS, and the judiciary will be entitled to elect the other 11 under the existing procedures.

The new Supreme Judicial Council will have to make key choices by electing Bulgaria’s new Chief Prosecutor (current Chief Prosecutor Boris Velchev‘s seven-year term is set to expire), the Director of the National Investigation Service, the head of the Supreme Court of Cassassion, as well as a large number of judges and prosecutors.

The Heads of Delegation of the European People’s Party Group’s 10 Central and Eastern European Member States have sent an open letter to José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, over discrimination against Eastern Europe.

The rightist Members of the European Parliament from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia have expressed their deep concern regarding “the numerous discriminatory actions carried out against Central and Eastern European citizens.”

They have called on the Commission to step up against such measures, as cited by the EPP press service.

In the letter, the signing parties recalled the launch of the Dutch Freedom Party’s (PVV) website, set up against Eastern European citizens, and the launch of a similar website by the Belgian Flemish far-right party, Vlaams Belang, targeting all migrants.

The EPP Group MEPs also raise concern on the recent decision of Switzerland, which has temporarily re-introduced an authorization requirement for workers coming from the eight Eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004.

The 10 Central Eastern European EPP Group Heads of Delegation strongly condemn these developments:

“We believe that these discriminatory actions go against the fundamental European values of human dignity, freedom, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights and that these unacceptable measures are making second-class citizens of Central Eastern Europeans and thus risk destroying the very basis of the Union – equality of EU citizens”, as stated in the letter.

“We cannot accept any form of discrimination from either inside or outside theEuropean Union. These discriminatory measures set dangerous precedents and could encourage extreme political forces to use similar actions against Central Eastern European citizens. This would lead to dangerous consequences, such as the strengthening of xenophobia, extremism and far-right movements, and would create deep divisions between European nations, thus weakening the EU as a whole.”

With this in mind, the Heads of the 10 Central Eastern European EPP Group Delegations are calling on President Barroso to step up against these and other discriminatory actions:

“We are calling on you to make a stand against the use of double standards, to use all your power to put pressure on all movements, political forces and even on states to put an end to these unacceptable actions.”

The letter was signed by:

Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, Head of the Polish Delegation of the EPP Group, as co-initiator;

András Gyürk, Head of the Hungarian Delegation of the EPP Group, as co-initiator;

Theodor Dumitru Stolojan, Head of the Romanian Delegation of the EPP Group;

Andrey Kovatchev, Head of the Bulgarian Delegation of the EPP Group;

Tunne Kelam, Head of the Estonian Delegation of the EPP Group;

Vytautas Landsbergis, Head of the Lithuanian Delegation of the EPP Group;

Krišj?nis Kari?š, Head of the Latvian Delegation of the EPP Group;

Milan Zver, Head of the Slovenian Delegation of the EPP Group;

Zuzana Roithová, Head of the Czech Delegation of the EPP Group;

Anna Záborská, Head of the Slovakian Delegation of the EPP Group.

The European Commission is referring Bulgaria to the EU Court of Justice for failing to meet the December 2010 deadline to transpose the EU‘s WasteFramework Directive into national law.

Hungary, Poland and Slovakia are also referred to the Court for missing  the deadline.

On the recommendation of Environment Commissioner Janez Poto?nik, theEuropean Commission is asking the Court to impose penalty payments on the four countries in question. Bulgaria is facing EUR 15 220 worth of penalty payments per day.

In parallel, Belgium is receiving an additional reasoned opinion for its failure to notify the Commission of its transposition of the same Directive. If Belgium fails to adopt and communicate the necessary legislation within two months, the Commission may also refer the case to the EU Court of Justice and ask for financial penalties.

If Member States fail to transpose EU legislation into national law within the required deadline, the Commission may ask the Court for financial sanctions to be imposed at the first referral to Court, without having to return to the Court for a second ruling.

The penalties take into account the seriousness and duration of the infringements. They consist of daily penalty payments to be paid from the date of the judgment – assuming the countries are still not compliant – until transposition is completed.

The Commission sent letters of formal notice to the Member States concerned on 27 January 2011. Reasoned opinions were sent to Belgium on 30 September 2011, Hungary and Slovakia on 20 May 2011, and Bulgaria and Poland on 16 June 2011.

The EU Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC aims to decouple economic growth from waste generation and establishes a legal framework for wastetreatment within the EU, including targets. It introduces waste management principles such as the “polluter pays principle” and lays down a binding hierarchy for managing waste. Member States are to prioritise prevention, followed by reuse,recycling, and other recovery, with disposal as the least favoured option.

www.novinite.com

Countries that refused to open up their labor markets to Bulgarian and Romanian nationals in 2012 will have to submit their motives with the European Commissionby end-May.

Nine EU countries decided to take advantage of the maximum period (December 31, 2013) to keep labor market restrictions for citizens of the EU’s two newest members, citing the crisis as a motive.

According to Dutch Green MEP Marije Cornelissen, some EU member states have come up with plainly ridiculous explanations for maintaining the restrictions.

Germany, which alleviated restrictive measures for Bulgarians and Romanians holding German diplomas, fears that citizens of the two countries will edge out local workers due to the modest wages they accept.

Brussels, however, disagrees with the belief that Bulgarians and Romanians are a threat to the economies and labor markets in the UK, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Ireland, Austria, Malta and Luxemburg, where the restrictions are still in force.

The EC has prepared two reports proving the opposite, namely that Bulgarian and Romanian nationals have contributed to the economic growth in Western countries and that they have had only a limited impact on salaries.

What is more, the crisis has substantially reduced the number of Bulgarians and Romanians willing to immigrate.

The EC, however, cannot force countries into lifting labor market restrictions.

www.novinite.com

Bulgaria‘s economic growth is expected to slow-down to 1.2% in 2012 in the wake of the continued crisis in the eurozone and stagnant domestic demand, according to Citigroup analysts.

GDP growth next year is forecast at 2.5%.

Interestingly the financial institution warns that the next general elections, due in the middle of 2013, may undermine the implementation of key structural reforms in the coutry.

Earlier this month Bulgarian analysts and institutions unanimously cut their growthforecast for 2012 to just below 1.5% instead of the previously forecast 2-3%, citing slumping exports and stagnant domestic demand.

The central bank BNB estimated Bulgaria‘s economic growth to slow-down to 0.7% in 2012, citing the sovereign-debt crisis in the euro area.

Bulgaria‘s government and the European Commission recently revised downwards their forecast for the economy of the Balkan country, estimating it is to grow 1.4% this year due to worsening growth prospects in key trading partners across Europe and stagnant domestic demand.

Meanwhile a Sofia-based think-tank warned that Bulgaria‘s economy hovers on the brink of its second recession in three years in the wake of the slump in the eurozone.

Bulgaria‘s economy is expected to shrink in the first quarter of 2012, to be followed by a few more quarters of falling output, entering a technical, recession, the Institute for Market Economics (IME) has forecast.

This would be the second recession in Bulgaria in just three years.

Tumbling levels of exports and industrial production show that Bulgaria‘s economy is already feeling the chill from the euro zone, according to the experts.

This has left domestic demand as the major driving factor behind the economy, but expectations are that it will remain subdued due to a rising unemployment rate and a drop in investments.

Economists say the most troubling indicator is that in the period January -February2012, the total value of the exported goods reached almost BGN 5.7 B, down by 6.1% on an annual basis.

Bulgarian exports to third countries also decreased, marking a 2.6%  fall compared to the corresponding period of the previous year and amounted to BGN 2.3 B.

Exports, which used to be the driver behind Bulgaria‘s recovery, are slumping and in the best possible scenario can record a negligible growth or remain flattish, according to analysts’ forecasts.

A mix of global slow-down, restricted financing and withdrawing investors have brought Bulgaria‘s construction sector to a stalemate and according to the analysts it has been sliding ever more firmly into negative territory for the fourth year in a row with little hope for revival in the short term.

Bulgaria‘s retail market continues to be on a downward trend, despite the retail concentration within malls, which have taken the role of new urban shopping, and leisure centers over the last couple of years.

Data on the visits of foreign tourists in February did not bring the expected joy either. The number of foreign travelers here was down by about 3% on an annual basis after a year and a half of healthy growth. The figures dampened the sector’s hopes that the excellent conditions for skiing in February will attract many foreign tourists.

Bulgaria‘s economy expanded by 1.7% in 2011.

Growth slowed down to 1.6% in the fourth quarter of last year, curbed by slumpingexports, according to data of the statistics institute.

The European Union newcomer entered recession for the first time in the first quarter of 2009 with its economy shrinking 5% from January to March 2009 and contracting 1.6% in the fourth quarter 2008 on a quarterly basis.

In the first quarter of 2009 Bulgaria‘s GDP marked a 3,5%  drop on an annual basis for the first time since the financial and economic crisis in 1997 and the slump was much sharper than macroeconomists’ forecasts.

www.novinite.com